Fly swatter blade



June 27, 1939.

FLY SWATTER BLADE Filed Nov. 29, 1937 J. A. NICKELSEN 2,163,761

Patented June 27, 1939 Qumran STATES,

' PATENT OFFICE 2,163,761 FLY swA'r'rsn BLADE John A. Nickelsen, Clinton, Iowa 7 Application November 29, 1937, Serial No. 177,140

2 Claims.

the binder for the blade consists of textile fabric 5 sewed to the wire fabric. The wire fabric usually consists of untempered wire strands which bend readily and interlock with the strands which they cross in the weaving operation; Blades made entirely of such strands are flexible but lack resiliency and in use readily become distorted in shape. To make a resilient blade, I substitute for certain of the individual wire strands extending longitudinally of the blade groups of spring wire strands,the wires in these groups being preferably smaller in diameter than the untempered strands but sufficient in number to give the required resiliency or elasticity. These groups are spaced apart transversely of the blade in order to make the blade uniformly elastic. The successive transverse strands of the blade extend across each entire group of spring wires, on opposite sides thereof, and the spring wires in each group are held side by side and close together throughout the length of the blade, resembling, except onclose inspection, a single flat strand which does not raise a projecting ridge on the blade. The principal advantage of employing a group of small wires to give resiliency to the blade instead of a single wire of larger size, or a strip of fiat spring metal, is that in stitching the binder onto the fabric, if the sewing machine needle strikes the group of wires it will spread them and pass between adjacent wires without breaking the needle, whereas if a strip of spring metal having the width of the group, or a single large wire of spring metal were used, the needle upon striking either of these would probably be broken. The invention has other advantages hereinafter referred to. 40 In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the swatter blade as it appears before its corners are folded for attachment to the handle;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the blade with the I handle attached, only a portion of the handle being shown;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the wire fabric, on an enlarged scale, and,

Fig.4 is a section, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, also on an enlarged scale.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, the blade is composed of the woven wire body it having a binding of textile fabric b secured to its edges by a line of stitches c.- 'The body is oblong with parallel sides and ends, the corners at one end being preferably rounded as shown. The wire fabric or netting of which the body of the blade is formed comprises the wire strands I extending longitudinally of the blade and the transverse wire strands 2 interwoven with the longitudinal strands, these strands being single wires of untempered metal so that the longitudinal and transverse strands bend and interlock during the weaving process. Netting made entirely of such strands is commonly used for fiy swatter 10 blades, and while such blades are flexible they are lacking in resiliency and easily become bent and distorted in use.

In order to make the blade resilient, I substitute for some of the longitudinal soft wire strands 1 groups 1 of spring metal,,five such groups being shown spaced apart transversely of the blade in order to make the blade uniformly resilient. As illustrated in the enlarged detail view, Fig. 3,

each group j consists of four spring wires, 3, 4, 20

5 and 6, each of smaller diameter than the single wire strands which form the body of the blade. The groups are interwoven with the successive I cross wires 2, each of the latter extending across the entire group. The wires of each group lie 25 close together and parallel with one another, resembling a fiat slightly sinuous strip, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. The binding 17 consists of a strip of suitable textile fabric, preferably of soft material, folded around the edges of the 30 blade and stitched to it by a zigzag line of stitches c. In sewing the binder to the wire netting, if the needle of the sewing machine happens to strike one of the single strands, l or 2, the strands will be pushed aside and the needle 35 will not be broken, except in rare instances, because the wires are of small diameter and easily bent or pushed aside. If the needle happens to strike the end of one of the groups of spring wires f it will spread the wires, as shown at I in 40 Figs. 1 and 2, and pass between adjacent wires and will not be broken. If fiat strips of spring metal or single spring wires having the same cross-sectional area as the wires in one of the groups f were substituted for the groups of small 45 spring 'wires, the sewing machine needle upon striking a strip or a large spring wire would probably break. The groups of wires lying fiat, do not produce ridges on the blade and the groups are more flexible than single wires of larger size. 50

While the main purpose in sub-dividing the resilient spring members is to facilitate sewing the "binder onto the netting without obstruction or breakage of these'wing machine needles, another advantage is found in folding the handle end of 55 diagonal lines 8 (Fig. 1) and turn the comers a inwardly over the forked arms 9- of a handle 9, as shown in Fig. 2. When folded, the corner pieces may be secured to the body of the wire "fabric by staples II). In thus folding the wire fabric composed of interwoven strands of soft or untempered metal, as commonly used in fly swatters, it is a common occurrence for some of the wires to become broken at the diagonal bends, leaving rough edges. The groups of resilient wires in the blade of the present invention extend from end to end of the fabric, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and as these lie fiat like a ribbon and are, independent of one another they can readily be bent in turning the corners of the fabric inwardly on the diagonal lines, and it is found that because of the presence of these resilient strands in the fabric, breakage of the untempered strands at the diagonal bends in the fabric is largely eliminated.

What I claim is:

1. In a fly swatter, a blade of oblong form composed of'interwoven longitudinal and'transverse strands of untempered wire and longitudinal strands of spring wire, the latter arranged in groups, the wires in each group being arranged side by side and close together, and the successive transverse strands extending across each entire group of spring wires on opposite sides thereof, and a binding stitched to the margin of the blade.

2. In a fly swatter, a handle having a spreading end, and a blade composed of an oblong piece of wire netting having longitudinal and transverse strands of untempered wire and longitudinal strands of spring wire, the latter arranged in groups and extending from end to end of the blade, the wires in each group being arranged side by side and close together and the successive transverse strands extending across each entire group of spring wires on oppositesides thereof, and a binding stitched to the-margin of the netting, twoof the corners of thenetting, including end portions of said spring wires, being folded on diagonal lines inwardly over the end of the handle and secured at their edges to the body of the netting.

JOHN A. NICKELSEN. 

